These Roles We Play
by Animesage
Summary: After a certain incident, our 'hero' winds up in a locked room in a universe he thought only existed in his videogames, stripped down, and with his kidnapper as his only form of assistance. And to think it was such a normal day too. Self-Insert
1. Chapter 1

**These Roles We Play**

**A/N: Ah, good morning, afternoon, or evening. I bet some of you who have read my previous stories before are wondering 'what the fuck is this, dude? Another one?' Well, yeah. You see, it's... been a while since I've touched upon anything with Fanfiction here and I, basically, grew up a bit. I have college now and other matters to attend to, but I still lurked around here. So I decided to start this new fic here and I guess it would be a self-insert? Perhaps. Anyways, I hope those of you who choose to read this enjoy it.**

**I will try to update whenever I can, but no promises. I tend to go by a 'My Pace' with these sorts of things anyhow. As for the other stuff sitting on my profile now. I'm not sure how I feel about them at the moment, I'm proud of my own work, except at the same time, it's kind of like an Old Shame of my younger years. Not too sure what to do with them, exactly yet. As for the plot of this particular story? Well, it will be all a secret for now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or anything involved in its universe. Those all belong to the folks at Bioware. Nor do I own any possible modern products or references that may be mentioned.  
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"_You don't need me anymore. You never did."_

"Frick."

"Dude, just admit it, you fail at FPSes." My 'friend' comments as my character on the screen falls over from being riddled with bullets for what would be the twentieth time this match. Honestly, I don't know no remember how this guy convinced me to get this, these games usually frustrate the crap out of me. Partially because the players I get saddled with are, to be blunt; annoying as hell in almost every conceivable way possible. Perhaps it's what I get for being unable to say 'no' to a friend.

I chuckle lightly into the headset, "Aw come on now. That was probably the longest I've lasted, I'm sure the guy was lucky."

"Or you just can't aim for shit," was the almost-immediate response, "_especially_ when you're moving." Bastard. You should be nicer to the one who agreed to play with you on this game even though I was busy working.

…Even though I'm not particularly good at said game yet."Whatever, let's just keep playing alright?"

Hours pass by as I seem to fail even more every round I end up playing in. With my friend here continuing to shoot down most of the other players with relative ease while I barely manage to get one kill in. Huh, wasn't I supposed to be doing something important instead of—

"Oh shi—Sorry man, gotta go."

I lower the controller as my character drops dead from a headshot for what would be the umpteenth time today. Not even paying attention to what my friend was saying as I turned off the console. I'll apologize to him later. Crap, I was supposed to finish up that work by today!

Alright, calm down now, I tell myself as I push my glasses back into their proper place, good thing they didn't fall off completely. I wouldn't know what I'd do if I lost them again.

Now where was I? Right, work. I stroll over to my desk as I turn on the monitor to my computer; I have to get this programming work done eventually. Then I'll be able to pass the class once the semester rolls around again!

Right, let's get started…

* * *

According to my the clock, it's only been a few hours and I'm already close tobeing finished. Just gotta test it for a moment, check for errors and then…

"Well, that's an interesting little program you got there. Pretty basic, but not bad." A notably male voice says from behind me.

Well gee, thanks for the constructive input there—wait, no one is supposed to be back yet. I quickly turn to face whoever entered my room. I grab the closest object to possibly use against this 'intruder'. Whoever the hell you are, you better… whatever thought that was trails off.

…

People aren't supposed to be glowing blue like that. The glowing stranger is a young looking man, who has this smile on his face, the kind that you just want to punch after looking at it for a while just to wipe it off.

"I'll be honest. This might hurt a bit." Is all he says, still smiling by the way, before that blue aura of his flares up. For some reason, this is looking actually looking a lot like… no, can't be. That's just something from a videogame right?

"That's just not possible… biotics… don't…" I trail off as I feel my consciousness quickly leave me. The feeling though is akin to having something being forcefully ripped out, stupid bastard was wrong about it hurting a bit.

So this is how I'm going to go, dead due to some possibly crazy robber murdering me with sci-fi powers that shouldn't exist. Not exactly the nicest of deaths, but it could be worse.

Heh… and that's my choice of final thoughts? My friends would probably be laughing at me if they heard that.

The last sound I hear is that of my body hitting the ground.

* * *

Huh, where the hell am I now? Last I checked, I was about to be killed by something via brain powers! It's really hard to tell where I am, the whole area seemed to be covered in a thick sheet of fog. There is someone who I can see is standing in front of me, the face obscured by that oddly convenient fog.

What I _can_ see is the gun that the mystery person is slowly raising and aiming straight at me.

What the hell is going on? C'mon legs, move! Gah, something is preventing me from running, moving out of the way, or anything. I don't think anything is actually holding me down either, I just can't move!

There seems to be a pause as the stranger kept his or her gun aimed directly at me until there was a loud bang!

My eyes immediately snap open at that moment, staring up at a dark ceiling. From what I can tell so far, I am on a bed, a rather nice one at that, so nice that I'd want to fall asleep in it right away.

However, given that the last memory I had was that dream and before that, that some guy broke into my house and was using biotics, or at least what I'm assuming are biotics. Of course I draw into my memory of videogame knowledge first. Gah! Whatever, get out of… wherever I am first, think about concepts of fiction being reality later. It doesn't look like I'm being restrained in anyway, odd, so I sit up slowly and checked my surroundings.

Everything looks so… dammit, I don't have my glasses on, where are my glasses? I start feeling around for them, huh, it kind of feels drafty in here now that I think about it, ah, there they are!

Right on what I assume is a table. I grab my trusty spectacles and place them back where they always were. Much better, now that I have these on, I can see that the room I'm being presumably held captive in looks rather well-furnished…

…and that I'm only clad in boxers. Well, that explains the drafty feeling, but the implications now seem to be growing to rather unpleasant levels. I shiver out of either the thoughts of what possibly happened to me during my period of unconsciousness or if my lack of clothing is starting to get to me. I'm hoping it's the latter.

No no, focus! Find out what's going on, then get the hell out of wherever this place is. First off, aside from my current state of wear, I can see I'm not dead and or injured in anyway. …Go me.

Second, just need to have a good idea of where I am, maybe there's something in this room.

I look around the room once more, more thoroughly this time. The room is actually kind of dark, though I suppose that's due to the large shutter looking thing that can be seen blocking what I'm guessing is a way out, or a window. Nearby, there is the night stand that I got my glasses from next to the bed, though there is no drawer and just a few feet away is what looks like a coffee table with something on it.

As soon as that registers, I immediately lift myself off the bed, only to almost fall back onto the bed. Whoa, that wasn't supposed to happen, probably shouldn't have stood up so quickly. I quickly shake off the dizzy feeling as I regain my balance and walk towards the table since it happened to be the next closest thing I can see.

Sitting there were two items, the first was a glove, a single black glove looking thing. It looks about as long as my arm up to just above my elbow. It looks rather useless, but looks can be deceiving. I take my thoughts off the glove and pick up the second object.

It's an earpiece. I stare at the thing for a few moments; I think I have a feeling of what's going to happen. The door would be locked obviously, nobody is that stupid. I put on the earpiece and wait for whatever may happen.

Not even five seconds passed after I put the thing on when a familiar voice causes me to jump a bit, "Oh good! You're finally awake! Thought I might have actually killed you there for a moment," the voice says as if he just left the TV on before leaving the house.

"You're the bastard who broke into my house!" I yell in response, but quickly reel in the anger. Calm down, I can't let myself get riled up that easily, I'm the one at a disadvantage here. I don't even know if the bastard can even hear me or not.

"Whoa, calm down there, don't wanna push yourself so hard after just waking up." Well that answers that question, "I know you probably want some answers and I assure you, you'll get them," the bastard's voice continues, he sounds like he's really enjoying this, "however, all of you have to do is follow my directions and you'll be out of this room in no time flat." Oh, I see where this is going.

A brief pause, "Either that or you die of slow painful death via starvation, your choice really. I do hope you choose the former though, it's much more fun that way."

"Aww, I'm so touched you cared," I respond with a nastier tone than I intended, "but why should I trust, let alone listen to, anything you say?"

The answer was almost immediate, "Easy, because I'm the only one who knows you're here as well as your only semblance of any connection to the outside world. I made sure of that, trust me." I really did not like how he worded that; my family was all out at the time, he couldn't have done something to them, could he?

"And if you want to know anymore than that, you'll have to come out and find me." I sigh, I'm not exactly given much choice here, am I?

"…fine," I say, "I'll play along," for now, anyways. "What do you need me to do?" An amused chuckle is heard through the earpiece. I know this is going to bite me in the ass some time later.

"Good boy," the man says as if praising a puppy, "Now, the first order of business for you is…" he seems to like dragging out these odd pauses doesn't he?

"To get out of this hotel room!" He finishes with a dramatic flair in his voice. Well, good to know he's having _fun _with this. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, but really, that's it? Get out of the room? That seems rather deceptively easy.

At that moment, all the lights turned on at once, with me squinting as it flooded my eyes. After they adjusted, it turns out that the bastard was right about one thing, that it was a hotel room. Or at least it was nice enough looking to be a hotel room, that shutter looking thing is still closed though.

And wouldn't you know it there's a door nearby.

Naturally I go to open it, but I quickly find out that there's no door handle.

"Like I would make it that easy for you." Of course, I should've known better. "Now, getting out is very easy though."

If the next thing he says is going to end with me having to gouge my eye to get the key that's hidden behind it, I'll deck him if I ever actually meet him face to face.

"You've had the tool you needed the whole time." I raise an eyebrow at this, wondering what the hell this voice is talking about, when I remember the other thing that was laying next to the earpiece and pick it up from the table. The glove, what am I supposed to do with it? Slap the door with it and challenge it to a duel for its honor?

…Okay, I admit that even sounded stupid even by my standards.

"Well, go ahead and put it on your left arm." The voice says, and from this I can figure out that he's probably watching me from nearby or from a camera. Though that doesn't settle down the sudden eery feeling I'm getting from that thought.

Whatever, the faster I do this, the faster I can get home, right? I equip the item in question and then the 'glove' suddenly turned into something that I recognize. That being a certain something that I've seen so many times while playing the game that it would be impossible for me _not _to recognize it.

This is an omni-tool.

This is an _omni-tool._

I have an omni-tool…

"Oh good, it looks like you're finally starting to figure out the full-extent of your situation." The voice says with a light laugh, "Then allow me to formally introduce you to your 'new home', so to speak." As if on cue the shutters blocking the windows slowly opened, revealing a blizzard that was going on outside, but what really caught my eye was the conveniently timed starship that soared by before flying into the skies.

Tell me I didn't just see that.

"Welcome my 'friend', to Port Hanshan. Your first task is to use the omni-tool to free yourself from the room I've locked you in."

There is a long awkward silence as my mind tries to register what I had just learned in the past couple of minutes. After a moment, I hold my hand out and sharply strike myself across the cheek.

Ow, okay, definitely felt that. So I'm not dreaming, I think.

And then the full culmination of my current feelings comes out in only one single word.

"_Frick."_

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**A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you'd like, the review button is right down there. I would appreciate constructive criticism, but any review is fine as well. Any criticism will be accepted so long as it is constructive of course. It's been a while since I've done something like this, I wonder if I've lost something or not. Hehe, I guess I'll find out soon enough, huh?**

**Until next time, have a good day and may the next day be wonderful as well.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**These Roles We Play**

**A/N: Lots of dialogue and talking in this chapter. Probably won't be having any guns-blazing action for a while I'm afraid. For now, enjoy the new chapter. Hopefully there aren't too many errors here. I admit I am sending this in without a beta.  
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Honestly, this omni-tool is one of the coolest things ever.

After I calmed down from the shock of realizing that I was kidnapped and sent about a century or so into the future, specifically one of a videogame, I checked out my omni-tool in order to figure out how to escape my current predicament. It appears though that this omni-tool has quite a bit of features on it. Or so the initial menu shows.

If it weren't for the fact that I'm in a potential life or death situation here, I might actual spend some time gawking over this and checking out just how much this can do.

"Liking my present?" A singsong voice chimes in from the earpiece. Crap, I forgot he was still there.

"It's pretty interesting." Affirmative yet still neutral, perfect answer, no way am I giving the guy the satisfaction of impressing me. Yet the guy still responds with that damn light laughter.

"I would hope so, that is one of the top-of-the-line models manufactured by the Armali Council. It's technical capabilities can definitely surpass most of those cheap accessories they hand out to cops or C-Sec. They have a branch here in Noveria, so I stopped by and acquired one for you."

I shiver at that, of all the places I get dropped on, it's _Noveria. _I remember playing through this planet quite fondly; what with the rachni, the extreme cold outside, asari commandos, the bureaucrats… yup, my stay here is all going to be one fun little picnic. Why couldn't it have been somewhere nice like the Citadel?

Well, at least I won't get mugged by some random batarian or something in this room, not that I'd want to get anywhere close to a batarian anyways. No offense to them or anything but if my memories of the game's codex are correct; batarians are generally not nice people. Then again, aside from my newly acquired omni-tool, I don't have anything worth taking.

Speaking of which, "Hey, Bastard," I call out to him, "What happened to my clothes? Or any of the other stuff I had with me?" Though the only stuff I on me was my notepad, cell, and my wallet. Stuff was probably obsolete in the future, but I think it would be nice to hold onto them as a reminder of sorts.

"I do have a name you know," the bastard responds, though he sounded more amused than irritated, "As for your things, after I… relieved you of them, I sold them to the highest bidder."

… "You sold my stuff?"

"How do you think I acquired your gift? I did let you keep your spectacles of course." I stare at the omni-tool I had been admiring for the past few minutes in silence. Finding a sudden burst of newly founded vigor, or perhaps anger, I quickly move towards the locked door and pop open the omni-tool's menu when I see the red panel appear.

I fiddle through the menus until I find what I needed. Or at least I'm assuming it's the right one as smiling bastard chimes in right on cue.

"This is a 'standard' Decryption module here. Should be easy enough for you to use with your current knowledge of software and computer programming. Use it to bypass the lock on your door and I'll give you further directions from there."

Now at the panel that opens the door, I begin the process of cracking this open. The interface for the bypass module looks like some version of syntax code. That's a bit of a letdown, never thought I'd miss 'Simon Says' being the way to unlock doors. Well, even if it is locked from the outside, this is just a standard hotel room door. Chances are, this door probably doesn't have anything too fancy here, so the program should be able to do most of the work for me.

Just need to run the program and… it's good, if the panel turning green was any indication. I sigh in relief. That was a bit easier than I expected, though I have a feeling that not all locks are going to be as easy as that.

The door slides open, showing that outside the room is a hallway. Sweet freedom, here I come!

However, I stop before I step foot outside of the room for the first time. This seems a bit too easy. I run over to the bed and grab one of the pillows, returning to the door as it open up again. Barely sticking my arm out there, I wave the pillow outside the doorway.

Okay good, no turret placed outside that would shoot me on sight if I left. Bit of a paranoid move, but can't be too careful now with the fact that I have next to nothing protecting me.

Good thing that no one can see this, I probably looked really stupid there.

The smiling bastard chimes in my earpiece, "Aw, I was looking forward to your frustration if you couldn't figure out how bypassing works," he says with a tinge of disappointment. Well serves you right for underestimating me like that.

"Anyways, just head right and enter the door at the end of the hallway on your left."

I exit out into the hallway, no one there and nothing that looks like a camera either. That's good, though it's quiet in here, way too quiet, my horror film senses are tingling here and chances are, something is going to pop out and do something horrible to me. I'm hoping it doesn't rape my face or anything like that.

I look upward just in case, all clear there, I sigh in relief as I head towards the door that the smiling bastard indicated. Though I can help but look towards every possible nook and cranny in this hallway, I even looked behind me a couple times too. It just feels really creepy in here, all by myself, alone.

All by myself, in the dark quiet hall. In a place a am not familiar with. Oh, why does this hallway have to be so long?

Dammit, losing my cool again! Calm yourself, man, just keep doing what the bastard says and you can get out of here eventually. I approach the door and notice that the panel is red as well. Alright bypass module, time to work your magic.

The door is unlocked with relatively little effort again, I repeat my claim that these omni-tools are a lot more amazing now that I'm actually using one. I wonder just how much potential these things have. The panel turns green as this door unlocks as well, then it opens and I sham now in the clear.

Alright, time to check for hidden gun again. I know this is rather stupid, but one can't be too careful, right?

I open the door and hold out the pillow to check as per usual.

Only to immediately drop it upon hearing one of the loudest sounds that I have ever heard. I end up falling on my rear out of shock. What I do see is bits of what used to be pillow fall on the floor of the room I was about to enter.

"Oh good, you didn't get caught in the blast. I was afraid I might've actually killed you there again." Smiling Bastard says into the ear—

Wait, I actually heard him say that. I see a pair of legs walk into my line of vision and look up.

Lo and behold, the smiling bastard himself was standing right in front of me. He looked older than me, but was still young looking, and he still had that smile plastered on his face. Even as he was holding the smoking shotgun in his hands.

"I was just hoping to scare you a little, but when you stuck that pillow in the doorway, I couldn't resist," he says with a chuckle. Wonder if he'd just go 'whoopsie' if he actually shot my hand off that time. I pull myself up and glare at him a little.

"Aww, did your underpants get a little heavier because of a little shotgun blast?" He teases, bastard. "Come on, don't just stare at me like that, step right on in. I'm sure you have many questions," he invites me in as if he didn't just shoot something out of my hands with a shotgun.

Ugh, whatever, if it means I'll be getting some answers to what's going on, I'll follow him in. This room is very similar to the one I was stuck in, only it's more personalized and there's an actual desk sitting in front of me with a computer and a bunch of data pads on it. There's also a bunch of weird looking trinkets and items around here, I see him stuff the shotgun away somewhere as he strolls over to his desk and sits down.

He motions me to sit in a chair that is nearby. "Now that we're more comfortable, feel free to ask any questions when you're ready. I won't harm you and I got rid of anything listening in so do not feel the need to restrain yourself." His smile seemed to grow wider as he said that, but I won't let this chance slip by.

Something doesn't feel right about this though, the guy who kidnapped and brought me here was just right down the hall? He revealed himself that quickly? I can't really think of any logical conclusion as to why he would want to do that. Unless he's just crazy, which doesn't seem to be totally implausible.

Remember, just keep calm and cool, getting angry or riled up won't get you anywhere. Even if the smiling bastard is proving himself to be a giant prick who deserves it. Come to think of it, I've been calling him that since this whole ordeal started.

"Alright then," I lean forward, clasping my hands together, "First off, who are you exactly?"

Smiling Bastard only chuckles as he leans back in his chair, "I could ask you the same thing, but I am and have been called a great deal of titles and names, to go over them all would simply be a waste of your time as well as mine," he leans forward again, "but my friends call me Jack, so I'll allow you the same." Well that's an odd coincidence right there, a biotic named Jack. Then again, Jack is not an uncommon name, still a little weird.

I think I'll just keep to Smiling Bastard for him though.

"How about you? I don't believe I got your name," He suddenly asks, idly looking at a datapad on his desk. Didn't he say I was the one allowed to ask the questions only? Oh well, couldn't hurt, but perhaps it wouldn't be a good idea to give him my real name. So, have to think of a fake name and quick. Maybe he believes in the whole 'asians look alike' thing.

"Tsukasa Ayatsuji," I say with a straight face. Frick! Why did my mind pick that one? But he's nodding, so it looks like he's buying it. For once I say, hooray for racial stereotypes!

"I see," he says as he does… something with a datapad, "and your real name?" Frick on a stick! I look away, a bit ashamed of myself there. Was I really that obvious?

"It's Dan, and I'm not telling you my surname," that's all I'm giving you. "How did you know I was lying anyway?"

"I didn't, you just confirmed it for me." Frick on a stick with a brick! I am –really- not in my A-game today. "Kidding! You didn't honestly think I took you without digging up your files back home, did you?" He says with that same smile, "Though, smart idea to give a false name to a potentially dangerous stranger, especially considering your current situation." So he admits to being dangerous? Grah, whatever, this guy is pissing me off already and it hadn't even been six minutes.

I calm myself down, stay calm, just forget this happened and ask him some more questions "Anyways…" I pause, narrowing the multitude of questions I want to ask him down to the important ones, "How did I get here? I mean, last I checked it was still the twentieth century and I was on Earth."

"Easy, I brought you here," he immediately replies. That answer was about as helpful as a punch to the face.

"You're not going to tell me any more than that, are you?" He gives me an amused shake of the head, well that got me nowhere, "Can you tell me why then?"

There's a pause here, the bastard glances up to the ceiling for a moment, would he be actually thinking about how to answer? He then looks back at me and shrugs, "Who knows," he starts doing some dramatic hand gestures as he continues, "perhaps you have been brought here by fate. Perhaps you were chosen to save the galaxy and that its fate lies in your hands? Or perhaps you were simply the one that happen to be there at the time and the chances was thrown at you," Then he drops the dramatics and falls back into his chair.

"Or maybe I'm just bored and decided to fuck with someone, with you being the unlucky sod." I frown at that, that still doesn't explain much, "I'll be honest though, your presence is of… importance here and regardless of the reasoning or what may have happened, I am your ally in this."

Conditional reason in three, two, one… "Just allow me to guide you through until your role in this world is finished and everything will be all right." There we go.

Still, I have a feeling I'm not going to be leaving any time soon. Well, considering this is the Mass Effect Universe, my safest bet would be going with Shepard, but how am I supposed to do that?

"What year is this?" I ask the smiling bastard.

"Twenty-one eighty-two," he responds. Dammit, that's about a year before the time of the games.

"That's a year before Shepard would become a Spectre and anything involving Mass Effect starts, what am I suppose to do then?" I say aloud, the bastard's smile grows upon hearing me mention that. Crap! Was I not supposed to say that? Frick, I didn't think that he might not actually know about the whole videogame thing?

"Oh, there's no worries about that, like I said, I'm your ally." I raise an eyebrow, wondering what he's talking about. "You remember that room you were in? That will your new home from now on while you're here." What? I mean, what? "This place is a special area specifically meant for residents on Port Hanshan." Okay, but that still doesn't clear up much.

"But this place is deserted, I didn't see anyone around when I went through here," I mention.

"This –is- Noveria. Just about everyone living here has some eight-to-nine job involved with some corporation or another. As for security, I simply pulled a couple favors for now." He responds. "Anyways, on to business as to what you can be doing for now. I'll be mentoring you so to speak until you can handle being by yourself here." He gives a dismissive wave of his hand, "After that, you're on your own," I repeat, what? Just like that?

"In the meantime though, you can't just sit around that apartment all day, gotta make money to survive, especially in a place like this." He then passes me a couple of data pads, "While you were out, I sent in some applications to a few jobs around here based on your records," he says, "Of course, I… altered and added a few extra bits here and there. Also pulled another few favors. It's rather fortunate you're pretty much a blank slate here. Feel free to choose which one you wish to do."

I stare at the data pads for a moment and look back up at the smiling bastard, this is nice and convenient and all but this seems too good to be true, "Why? Why are you doing all of this?" Especially for someone like me.

"Hm? I already told you didn't I?" He says, though with a serious face for once, "Your presence here is important, and I intend to assist you as much as I am able to while you're still new here." Then the smile comes back, "Besides, a favor for a favor, right?" Yup, this is going to bite me in the ass in the future.

"And if I say no?"

The man laughs at this, "Oh my, aren't you a paranoid little one. You forgot didn't you?" I suddenly feel some force pulling and pushing me upward at the same time until I'm found floating a few feet in the air.

"I'm a biotic, remember? Anytime during our little chat, I could've just _thought_ about it hard enough and I'd snap your neck like a twig." His smiling face suddenly takes a more sinister turn when he says that. I'm actually kind of scared at the moment. Can't let him know that though. Oh, I really hope I don't end up dying right now.

He immediately puts me down though, "So like I said, play nice and everything will be alright. Got it?" I nod in response, no way can I hope to take him down, "Good!" he smiles, "Now just pick one of the jobs down here and let fate run its course."

I look through the data pads. Well that conversation was enlightening, nothing really useful came out of it except that I'm pretty much this guy's bitch. I really want to go home, but I guess if I want to work that out, I have to play along for a while. If I'm going to do this though, I better try to get to Shepard then, so I'll need to try a job that would get me as close to the game's story as possible.

Speaking of Shepard, I don't know who this Shepard is, do I? It's kind of weird really considering there is usually only one person with their own identity. But Shepard's identity could go many ways here, and not just the whole Paragon and Renegade deal. I should know, I built up six Shepards. It kind of makes me wonder who this one will turn out to be. That should be something I have to consider in the future then.

"Oh yeah, one more thing." I turn to the bastard who is still sitting at his desk, "Aside from me, no one knows who you truly are. Your part in this is truly a blank slate, you could… potentially, be anyone who you wish to be, pretend, so to speak. Perhaps make good use of those acting skills you've been hiding." I jump a bit when he says that, the hell? Though I admit, he has a bit of a point. I could be anyone I wanted to be, huh?

I then see one data pad in particular and read through it. Oh my, _this _is interesting. My mind starts forming the plan right away, I know how I'm going to join up with Shepard then. I pass the data pad over to the smiling bastard who seems quite happy with my choice.

"I was hoping you would pick this one. Now let's get you ready," he says as he leads me towards a closet in his room, "This is going to be fun." I hear him mutter. I really hope I don't regret this.

* * *

My new boss paces to and fro as he reads through the data pad. "Hm, your credentials are good. Honestly I don't even know why the Board would even consider you. However, your 'special abilities' that you indicated in your file could be quite useful." The person looks at me with dubious eyes, "...Dan, is it? As you'll be working as my personal assistant, I expect you to work efficiently and to accomplish all tasks given to you without fail or question. Is that clear?"

I look back at the salarian, dressed up in a business suit and holding myself as sincerely as possible. I give him my best business smile, "Of course Mr. Anoleis, I am honored to be accepted to this position. Of course, I will not fail you."

Somehow, I feel as if I made the wrong choice here, that I may have stirred up something unintentionally. However, I don't think I'll regret it, so this is it, it all begins here.

My new life begins here.

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**A/N: Ah, I hope this was interesting and within boundaries and such. Everything regarding the overall plot is a bit of an enigma right now. But all will be revealed in time. Our hero was pretty much was just handed a 'start' on a platter. I hope this chapter was all right. Though if you have any concerns, reviews, constructive criticism. Or if you just wish to point and laugh at this guy writing a fanfic, the review button is right down there.**

**Until next time, may you all have a good day and may the next day be wonderful as well.  
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	3. Chapter 3

**These Roles We Play**

**A/N: Good morning/afternoon/evening again everyone. I hope you have all been well the past few weeks. My apologies for the delay on this chapter, I admit I had some trouble with it seeing as Noveria was rather... open territory, so to speak. Among other things. I hope this chapter will be to your satisfaction, though I admit this is more talking and interactions and such. Again, I hope there are not too many errors in this one. Also, apologies for not responding to reviews, I will do my best again next time.  
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"Oh sweet comfy bed. You're the bestest friend a boy could ever have." I sigh as I bury my face into the soft pillows of the bed of my now owned apartment, glasses placed on the nightstand nearby. It was now nighttime and after a long day, with emphasis on the long part due to how much time a day in Noveria lasts compared to Earth. Then there's the whole Galactic Hour thing… long story short, it's totally throwing off my body's mojo.

Now, if I could describe how it was like working under Anoleis. I'd simply say this; that it's only been a day and I already want to just toss his salarian rear out of the windows here. Now, yes, I'm fully aware he was an ass in the games, I should know, I saw him get arrested six times, even with my Renegade Shepards.

This was solidified during one particularly memorable incident that happened today.

It was a little while after Anoleis had given me a bunch of 'easy work' to do, 'easy work' quickly translating to doing the futuristic equivalent of a crapton of paperwork and other forms. Dear god, I bet if these were actually in paper form they would have piled up to my height while I was standing on the desk. Most of them were requests and other forms for certain actions on Noveria among others. I got to admit, I have to respect him for handling this flood of red tape and such.

It was after I received a little message that he quickly lost that respect.

* * *

"_Mr. Anoleis, sir?" _It seemed like such an innocent question back then._  
_

"_Yes yes! What is it Ayatsuji? I'm very busy." _Oh yeah, I have a new last name while I'm here. I do admit it's a pretty cool sounding one even though it was a spur of the moment one I picked when talking to the Smiling Bastard.

"_Elanus Risk Control has just sent in a formal request to rent the facility on Peak 14. Shall I forward the details to your omni-tool?" _It seemed an innocent enough question at the time, but as I was quickly reminded; Anoleis is one of 'those types' of people.

"_What? Of course you should! Honestly, just send any of those sorts of requests to me in the future. No question. Wasted time spent asking inane questions such as that lose us twelve credits for every second, do you understand?" _He sounded rather ticked off that I, the new guy, would ask him a question, guess he _is_ efficient businessman first, decent person second, or maybe third. Actually, it might even be lower priority than that. Then again, I may or may not have actually deserved that.

"…_of course Mr. Anoleis. My deepest apologies, it won't happen again." _I wanted to just march into his office and deck the guy so badly. Though I do know he keeps a pistol hidden under that desk of his and last I checked, a business suit usually loses against a bullet.

"_I'm counting on it. Also, let me remind you that someone in your low position are expendable and just as easily replaced. Now if you have nothing else to bother me with…" _Way to make your workers feel special. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any traces of common decency under that uh… skin.

* * *

This little incident merely served as what seems to be the start of the 'typical' relationship where the jerkass boss treats the secretary like utter crap. You know, in those sorts of TV shows or movies where eventually the jerkass gets his comeuppance in some way.

All he needs to do now is slap my ass whenever he walks past me coupled with making passes as subtle as a punch to the face and the effect will be complete.

…

…oh _ew_! Gave myself a bad mental image there, bad imagination! Bad!

Anyways, totally boss of the year material there, that Anoleis. I can't wait til Gianna shows up and gets his ass arrested.

Come to think of it, doesn't she work undercover in the game as…

I quickly sit up from bed. Frick! _She _was the one who was Anoleis' assistant by the time Shepard shows up and now I'm the one in that position. Crap! Not even a full day has gone by and I already potentially threw off something from the main canon already!

I can't just suddenly do something like quit though, despite the fact that he's an ass, the job actually pays pretty decently if the number of credits indicated in my contract had anything to say about it. Plus even if I did quit, Anoleis doesn't seem to be doing anything suspicious at the moment, so there would be no reason for Gianna to be placed anywhere, let alone as his secretary yet. Then there's the timing and the lack of evidence. I could just keep going like this and wait and see what happens.

Or better yet…

I grab my glasses and put them on again as I start pacing around my little apartment. I'll just fix this. Of course, I just need to set everything up just right and then when Shepard arrives, I can help set him or her towards the path that gets this guy into a white collar prison, I'll make sure of that before I leave here.

I stop as I find myself standing in front of the door.

…or, I'll just make it all happen myself.

Of course! If I plant all the pieces just right, then this can definitely work in my favor and the 'canon' as well. I don't know about Gianna's current whereabouts so I'll have to work on one of the other two main players. So that leaves either Lorik'Quinn or Anoleis…

Lorik'Quinn it is. It's late now, so perhaps he could be down in that executive's bar. Though that is just based of his one appearance in the games, he might actually have other things to do that sit in a bar. It couldn't hurt though.

I open the door and head back out into the hallway where standing outside the room with that now trademarked smile was the bastard himself.

"Ah, good evening. I had a feeling you wouldn't be in there for long." He starts, until he gets a look at the expression on my face. Was he just standing outside waiting for me to come out? Doesn't he have anything better to do? "Oh my, someone looks happy. Did you just go to have a quick moment with Madame Dextra to relieve some stress there?" He says, waving his right hand at me.

I raise an eyebrow at this, the bastard chuckles, amused with himself. Whatever he meant by that, I'm pretty sure it was an insult. Better not think about it too much. "Is that all you came here to say? Cause I have something to do down at the bar—"

"Perfect! Since that was where I was going to take you anyway," he interrupts as he wraps an arm over my shoulder, now leading me over to the elevators.

"Wait, what? Why?" I ask as he unceremoniously shoves me into the open elevator, somehow I manage to not fall over from that.

"Your training of course!" He states easily. Training? Training for what? Well, come to think of it, going with Shepard will most likely involve me having to be involved in fighting too. So I guess it would be good to get some sort of… training here. But against what? I don't actually have to do something like shoot at a security guard or something… right? "I pulled another favor and an acquaintance of mine to help you out with your tech skills." He adds as the elevator ever so slowly moves upward. Teach me with tech skills, using more of the omni-tool? Oh, well that's good… I think, wait, he means right now?

"An acquaintance of yours is teaching me?" I really did not like how he worded that, "Can't you teach me?" Granted, that's probably the worse option now that I think about it. "And right now?"

"Not necessarily," he answers my second question, though I do note he had a bigger smile when I wonder if he was going to teach me, "I'll give you some time to handle whatever business you have. We'll just be waiting nearby; don't be too long. Can't keep our guest waiting after all." He said as the elevator came to a stop, exiting as the doors opened up to the bar.

The Smiling Bastard motions towards the second floor, "We'll be waiting up there. Don't keep us waiting now," was all he said before he left me by myself again. With that, I better get started. I look around the bar, though I only see other business people and a lot of fancy suits, but no Lorik Qui'in in sight. Not even at his usual table either, then again he probably may not have reason to actually come here since he wasn't barred from his office yet.

I really should have thought out the smaller details more. However, since I am here anyway… I glance towards the bar where there were a few empty seats. Might as well try to get some information.

And maybe a little 'pick-me-up' too.

I sit down on one of the little stools, I kind of wonder why bars have such tiny things, was it for the sake of room or design? I could never really figure that out. Well, I suppose to does depend on what the owner's intentions would be—

"Can I get you something?" A voice snaps me out of my train of thought. I turn to see a turian bartender looking at me, he seemed a bit intimidating standing there like that. Perhaps it's just those red markings on his face. Haven't had a drink like that in a while, granted, I am technically underage but no one here has to know that.

I think for a moment before saying, with the utmost of confidence, "Why don't you surprise me? Something sweet." I probably have something of a smirk on my face, considering the somewhat odd look he's giving me. "Oh, that won't kill me of course!" I quickly add. Almost forgot about the whole dextro-amino thing.

It takes a moment but then the bartender pulls out a shaker and a few bottles and begins making my drink. From what he's doing, it's safe to assume it's a cocktail of some sorts, perhaps a Mixer? Or maybe something like a Snowball? A snowball would sound nice, it's something like an ice cool alcoholic lemonade… sort of.

Hmm, perhaps it was not a wise idea to have read that book of cocktail recipes. I start to think to myself as I transfer the credits over.

I watched the bartender mix the drink and I wonder if he was showing off, considering the 'acrobatics' he's doing with that shaker. I do admit though, he's quite good; it's pretty cool actually considering I probably couldn't do something like that. How he and the shaker move so fluidly, it's kind like a pair of dancers performing in the sky.

…huh, I admit that was a rather weird comparison there. Bad imagination! Bad!

"Here you go. Enjoy." A gruff voice interrupts my scolding as something in a highball glass is placed in front of me. It's… rather brightly colored, which is kind of interesting considering how it contrasts the darker atmosphere of the bar. It's calming in its own way. "What are you smiling about?" The bartender breaks my chain of thought again, oh, must've drifted off for a moment there, though it couldn't hurt to answer.

"I was just thinking about how cool that looked. How you mixed the drink and all that. I admit I can be rather clumsy at times, so I can't really do those sorts of things without dropping something." I grin at him, though he looked rather taken back for some reason. "Is something the matter? Can't take a compliment?" I say, take a sip of the drink in front of me. Oh! This isn't half bad! The alcohol taste is not overpowering in this.

I notice there was a slight pause before he replied, "Of course not, it's just that I didn't expect anyone to actually say that. Let alone a…" another pause, "Never mind." Hmm, I have a feeling I know what he was going to say there.

"Let alone a human?" I finish for him as I take another sip, "No worries there, I don't mind." Doesn't look like the bar is rather busy at the moment, might as well get down to business. "By the way, does Mister Lorik Qui'in come down here by any chance?"

"The manager of Synthetic Insights?" the turian bartender looks thoughtful for a moment, "I don't really pay attention to customers all that much, but I do know that he's a regular here, he just left a while ago though." Damn! That means I'm too late then, oh wait, calm down, there's still plenty of time to pull this off, I just have to try again tomorrow, that's all. "Why?" The bartender asks, "do you have some reason to see him?" Oh yeah, I forgot he was still standing there.

"It's nothing really, just business relat—"

"THAT's BULLSHIT!" A really loud female voice interrupts me from further down, I stop and look over to see a woman angrily yelling at the other bartender for some nondescript reason. Aside from that really loud shout there, it's pretty much degraded into drunken ramblings. Looks like someone tipped back a little too much today.

"Ignore her," the turian bartender states, looking back at me, "She usually gets plastered like this every time she comes down here. You were saying, Ayatsuji?"

"Hm? Oh. Like I said, it's only something business related. Nothing too vital though." Wait, "Hold on, how did you know what my name was? I haven't even told you."

The bartender only chuckles at this, "Well, you _are _the Administrator's newest lapdog, or so says most of the people who come down here. You're not the first secretary he's had this year, I've just started this job last year and even I know that." He scratches his chin lightly with his talon before continue, "Anoleis is such a strict boss that many of his secretaries ended up being removed quite quickly. Come to think of it, I think there are already betting pools on how long you would last." Well, that doesn't bode well for me now does it?

"Lovely," I mutter to myself as I take another sip, "Well, since you know my name, what is yours then?" I follow up. Again, the turian seems a bit surprised, I'm not sure why, isn't it normal to ask for someone's name when you meet them?

In a slightly quieter voice he answers, "It's Sol'aan Tyrannus, but my friends usually just call me 'Sol' for short." Tyrannus? That kind of sounds like something in Latin there, not entirely sure what though. No matter.

I grin, "Well then Sol, I hope we'll be getting along then. Since I have no intention of losing this job." At least not yet anyways, I think to myself as I finish off the last of my drink, feeling much better now. "Anyways, I have to be going now. Thanks for the drink!" I bid him farewell as I left the bar. Now, Lorik Qui'in is already gone so now I have to attend to the Smiling Bastard and his 'acquaintance's training.

I shudder a bit at that thought. Oh well, just get this over with, then my day will be over. And then bed.

Sweet sweet bed.

* * *

I only just made it up to the second floor when I see the Smiling Bastard approaching me with an older man tailing behind him. For some reason, he looks a bit familiar somehow. I can't seem to put my finger on it though.

"Oh good, you're here. I was getting worried for a moment there," Smiling Bastard greets me as he once again drapes his arm over my shoulder and leads me along without so much as missing a beat. The other man walking wit hus. "Now, this here is…" he glances over to the other familiar looking man as I continue to rack my brain as to why this man looks familiar before looking at me again, "…Abraham Rumoi," clearly a false name or something to that effect with the pause there, "He'll be your tech teacher for a while. Of course, on a little condition."

I raise an eyebrow at this, of course, "A condition?" I ask as I realized I was somehow led to the elevator. Abraham here pulls out his omni-tool and presses a few buttons before waving it in front of the elevator, the three of us entering shortly after.

The man does a few more omni-tool presses and the elevator suddenly starts moving downward.

"This elevator will take us to a facility that is kept secret by most other companies here on Noveria," he states in a matter-of-fact tone, "Normal folks would not be able to access this unless they had clearance or if they happened to know where to look, so to speak."

"I take it we're going via the latter option aren't we? You'd think something like this would have pretty powerful protective measures or something," I comment, though I have a good idea what the answer to that would be.

Abraham only smirks, "Please, security measures like this I can break through in my sleep," cocky guy ain't he? "Now, I brought us all down here, but this is where your lesson will be starting. You'll be doing most of the omni-tool work from here on out." Wait, what?

"Are you serious? I've only used this thing four times at most since I got it!" I respond, though I admit that may have sounded rather indignant, moreso than I intended anyways.

"Heh, with me as your teacher you'll be able to get through something like this blindfolded," I really wish I had that amount of confidence, I sigh as I push my glasses back on. Come to think of it, why are we going down here anyways?

"Don't worry there, when you inevitably screw up, I'll be there to protect you!" Smiling Bastard pipes up as he ruffles my hair like one would a puppy. I feel so much safer already.

There was a moment of silence before I decided to tempt fate and ask, "By the way, what are we doing down here anyway?" The bastard's smile grows wider as the words leave my mouth. Crap.

"We're helping out Abraham here of course!" He pauses, probably for 'dramatic effect' and then finishes with "Via an espionage style heist!" complete with jazz hands. Does anyone even do jazz hands anymore?

…

The elevators comes to a complete stop shortly afterwords. Then it takes another moment for the full weight of the situation to once again hit me.

Not even a full Noveria day in and I'm now assisting in committing a potential felony.

…

_Frick_

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**A/N: 'Ayatsuji' is not my real last name. It mostly acts as a faux surname so I wouldn't have to use asterisks when need be.  
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**And with that, this is the end of the third chapter. Next chapter would be the first official 'action sequence' so to speak. It won't be particularly much though. We also introduced ****one new OC to the mix so far. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. If there are any confusions, or criticisms, or concerns, the review button is right down there. Though do know, that some things will be answered in time. Feel free to point them out though, I admit it would be fun to read through those sorts of reviews.  
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**With that, I hope you all have a good day and may the next be wonderful as well.**


	4. Chapter 4

**These Roles We Play**

**A/n: Okay, I have some explaining to do. Regarding my absence there were many distractions that have occurred since the last time. Well, first is school, I've been studying to try to pass. Though to be honest, even now that the semester is over, I still haven't, well passed yet. So to speak. So I'll be busy once the fall semester rolls around again. As for what else has been preoccupying my time, it's a little embarrassing but while working on this, I sometimes stopped and looked through my game shelf and thought, Hey I didn't finished half of these. And so I distracted myself from finishing this chapter until around now. Ahaha, I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have cause.**

**Nevertheless, here it is. Not my best work in my opinion. Oh, and if this seems rushed at the end, that's because it is. Mostly cause when I reached that point, I noticed 'Holy Crap, 7 pages already? Better wrap this up'. Thinking it over, I kind of want to go through the pre-game Noveria stuff quickly and get to the game stuff. Though there will be character developing! Particularly around Sol' from the previous chapter, keep an eye on him.  
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**So I hope you enjoy, those who are still reading this anyway.  
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"So your current situation is that here, in this restricted and possibly heavily guarded lab, there is data and a prototype that your client has hired you to acquire, correct?" I ask as we walk are step right outside the elevator.

"That's the gist of it." Rumoi replies as I take a look around the lab. So far it's like one of those corridors, pristine white condition, neither speck of dust nor dirt to be seen. It's almost creepy how clean this place is, like one had thoroughly washed away all traces of well… anything. "However, I can tell you that the heavily guarded part is a lie," he corrects me with a smirk, "Despite boasting some of the tightest security measures, if you pay the right people just enough, they'll practically jump off a cliff if you wanted them to."

Ah good ol' bribery, one of the many signs of the hidden dark bits of society. Granted, it's not everywhere though, there are lots of good people for every bad person. Then again, everyone on Noveria has probably done something they may or may not be too proud of. "So what about cameras or any bugs?" I ask, to which Rumoi only shakes his head like I just said something stupid. What? It seemed like a legitimate question.

"You don't honestly think I'd just let us waltz in here without disabling those first now, would you?" Well, I've only known you for all of five minutes so I'm going to say that my worries were a little justified. Maybe.

"Right," I reply as we reach a split corridor, "Who exactly are we uh… acquiring this stuff form anyway?"

"The Hahne-Kedar Corporation," Smiling Bastard chimes in at this point, "Well, not the main branch anyways, the Shadow Division has a facility here on Noveria." Shadow Division? Hmm, the only thing I know about that is that it was a set of equipment that you had to hack the game or something to acquire "In case you're wondering, the Shadow Corps is Hahne-Kedar's way of letting the newer folks get… creative, so to speak. Most of the stuff that comes out is pretty top-quality surprisingly."

"…and it just so happens that my client wants to have a… sample of what's going on down here." Rumoi adds. Right, a 'sample', let's go with that then. Come to think of it, since this a tech research lab, it isn't impossible for them to test some of their stuff for security, the cameras are disabled and the guards gone, so maybe I don't really need to do much about this—

"Hold up." The older man puts an arm in front of me, the hall is quiet, at least until the distinct sound of something mechanical moving is heard. "Sounds like one of those LOKI mechs they've developed, figures." Rumoi snorted, "This is rather convenient timing though…"

"Oh! Does this mean I can go smash it?" Smiling Bastard sounds way too eager when he says that, biotics starting to flare up.

The response was instantaneous, "No," the biotics die down just as quickly as they flared up with a groan akin to a little boy being denied his toys, I admittedly found that amusing, "Your friend here will take care of it." Yes, Smiling Bastard, let me take care of—

"Me?" I almost shout out, "You want me to do it?"

"I did say earlier that you have to take care of all the tech stuff right?" He swings his thumb towards the direction of the LOKI mech with a smirk. "That over there is a machine, and therefore your job." _Frick. _"Not to worry though, those things are practically harmless on their own, and this would be a good chance to teach you a basic Tech skill," Rumoi explains, though was it me or did he sound awfully smug during that?

So I'm going to learn a skill and use it on the lone synthetic over there. That sounds conveniently simple, is it me or does this situation feel like some crappy tutorial?

"Now the skill you'll be using here is an Overload, it's one of the easier ones. You basically build up an electrical charge with your omni-tool." Ah, an Overload huh? I know what that does, "Then just point, press the button and let the omni-tool do the rest. You can do that much, right?" Well, it sounded easy enough to do.

"Overload is good for taking down Shields and Synthetics in general, but it can also be used to short out the locks if you don't have the time to hack them," Rumoi continued as the synthetic sounds seem to move further away "It's not a very subtle approach though, and may not always work depending on the system so it's better to just work on your hacking." Fair enough explanation, and it sounds easy enough to do anyways.

"It's coming back, you better get ready." Rumoi suddenly ordered. It didn't scare me though, not at all, my hand was most certainly not shaking when I pressed the buttons on my omni-tool after he shouted. Once it had charged up, I stuck myself to the wall and waited. Waiting for what? To be honest, I'm not entirely certain as to why; perhaps it is just the nerves getting to me. Right, you can do this, just point and press the button.

"Don't forget Little Puppy, you're still down here in a business suit, so keep in mind that those don't come with shields or anything like that," Smiling Bastard pipes up, smiling as he looks down at me, "So careful not to get shot now, this heist won't be as fun if you died,"

Thanks for the bout of encouragement there, I take a deep breath as I see that the Overload is ready and I move out of cover and see the target in question. Wasting no time, I point the Omni-tool in the synthetic's direction and watch as the mech started to twitch rather violently, sparks sputtering about.

And then watched as it was subsequently thrown obviously via biotics several yards into the nearest wall and _exploding _into many pieces. If that didn't alert whatever was in the area, I'll eat my hat, well, if I had one anyways.

I turn to see the culprit standing up, a pleased smirk on his face before he turned back to the two whom were looking at him, "What?" Smiling Bastard shrugged, "It's much more fun to see a robot explode than just fizzle out like that, right? Besides, not like there's anything to worry about down here, right 'Rumoi'?" There was something about how he said Rumoi's name that bothered me, and there's still the fact that that name sounds familiar.

"Whatever," the man responds as he passes by the both of us, "Let's get moving then. Kid, come with me." I raise an eyebrow as to why when he promptly added, "I doubt we'll be running into much resistance, but I'll show you a few more tricks you can do with that Omnitool of yours." Oh, well, that would be helpful. I quickly catch up to him as we continue walking down the hall, passing by the shattered remains of the mech.

Well, at a glance, it is a LOKI Mech, but upon further examination it looks rather different, though I suppose that would be because we are currently two—no, three years before the game they 'debuted' in. I suppose that means this little guy's many 'children' will be superior in ability. It's almost kind of sad if you think about it in that aspect—

"Hey kid, you paying attention?" I'm not a 'kid', I'm almost twenty, "I'm not repeating any of this again, just so you know," Eh? Why not? Well, no matter, it best I pay attention then.

"Okay, now there should be some programs installed in your omni-tool, a basic Sabotage program as Damping…"

After a few brief explanations and some fiddling with the omni-tool for a moment, I think I'm getting the hang of this. So I have some of the Tech skills now, granted, aside from Overload I haven't actually tried them out. I admit though, Rumoi's explanations were rather easy to follow and understandable.

If I heard him correctly, then the Sabotage program works after directing the omni-tool towards the target. Sabotage was designed specifically to target weaponry, I don't remember the exact details, but it basically creates an insanely large amount of friction within the weapon to levels that basically force the weapon into needing to cooldown.

As for Damping, Damping has the omni-tool send out a signal that 'attacks' either omni-tool or the biotic implants and amps in biotics. This shorts them out and crippling the usefulness of the target.

I must admit, it was a rather interesting way that the abilities in the game be applied to 'real world' terms. Although, aside from Overload, the skills were only there in the first game, in this 'reality version' of the Mass Effect universe, would this mean that there would be something developed in the future that would render them obsolete in terms of combat utility?

Perhaps, considering when Heat Clips come into play, oh well, I don't have to worry about it for a while anyhow. It should be something that I have to think about later.

"Dammit, I thought a heist would be more exciting, but so far, I've only got to destroy _one _synthetic. _One."_

"It's only been twenty minutes since we left the elevator." I reply dryly.

Oh yes, one more thing I've also learned was that Smiling Bastard liked to complain a lot when he was 'bored', or perhaps it could just be a result of his disappointment at the near total lack of resistance down here. Granted, this place is apparently a secret and Rumoi said he took care of most of the main security measures. I'm rather glad for that, but apparently Smiling Bastard had expected Rumoi to 'critical fail' in some way.

"I'm aware of that," Smiling Bastard replies, making some sort of whiny sound, "But it wouldn't hurt for _something_ exciting to happen."

"Personally I'd prefer keeping my heists as uneventful as this." Rumoi responds this time, at least he's admitting this is a crime. "Ah, here we are. The target should be right through here." He says as he stops in front of the door and steps to the side and looks to me. I arch an eyebrow, what?

Smiling Bastard then nudges me forward towards the door. Oh! Right, I'm supposed to handle the tech related stuff as part of my 'training'. I approach the door, opening up my omni-tool as I start up the hacking program, and after a moment, I am presented with many lines of code appearing on the omni-tool's screen.

Okay, slightly more complicated than a hotel room door, I'm sure. I push my glasses back into place as I begin typing on the, I guess 'holographic' would be the appropriate word, keyboard that was being displayed. I've already done this several times during my secretary work, but it still feels so cool to do.

I open the door with relative ease. It is just a door after all, it's like working a lock pick, only an electronic one… actually, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with that train of thought.

I check for anything that looked suspicious inside the room, but I did not see anything of the sort, so that meant it was safe to enter right?

"Well, that was rather anti-climactic, but I did it" I say to no one as I walk through the door. Nope, no alarm triggered, or at least no obvious one anyway.

The room I just broke into looked like an office, a rather unkempt one if you ask for my opinion on it, among some other items of question lying around, it all looks rather expensive, I wonder if the owner of this office is one of those eccentric types? I probably won't get an actual answer to that question, but it is a rather curious thing to wonder about.

"Blueprints should be in their computers here. You know the drill, kid." Rumoi motions to the computer on the desk. Future models definitely look cooler than the ones we had, that's for sure. Alright then, I fire myself up as I start up both the computer and my omni-tool at the same time. This shouldn't be too hard.

Ah, how horribly wrong I was.

First try, failed, as I learned the hard way that while the hacking module can take care of most basic hacking, it falls flat when it goes up against the more sophisticated system, or so I assume when I was suddenly forced out of the system. I sigh; I really should have expected that. The men behind me both appear amused by this. They aren't worried that I may screw up really badly? No no, bad idea to get irritated by those two, especially that bastard. Okay, slipped up a little there, but I can do this.

Second try; this one went a bit more smoothly, at least until a slip of the fingers ending up undoing all the work I had done. Frick, oh well, third time's the charm right?

…

Third try then went through; dammit to hell… again! I hear nothing from behind, though I can practically feel the stares boring into my back. Turning to the omni-tool once more, I get to work. I will break into this, even if it kills me!

…

It was not until a long while later that, with some frustration as well as Rumoi's eventual instruction (was it me or did he sound like he was enjoying this?), I was able to hack into the files of the offending computer, and not even two seconds pass as I can already hear the mocking applause coming from Smiling Bastard behind me.

Rumoi pats my shoulder in a comforting way, though part of me believes it may have been patronizing.

"Don't worry, with enough practice, you'll be able to tackle other simple targets like that no problem," he says with a playful tone in his voice.

Patronizing, definitely patronizing.

Ignoring the urge to just overload the system by literal (yet futile) smashing, I start looking through the files. It was mostly a bunch of research data of weapons that, to be honest, I was not really all that interested in. I'm assuming that the man looking over my shoulder would stop me when I found what he wanted. It rather sucks that the files are numbered rather than given actual names, if only I knew how to narrow this list down.

That aside, the silence is rather unnerving for me, "So, what is your client going do with this data anyway?"

"To be honest, I don't really care what they do with this, so long as they hold up their end of the bargain," was the answer I got, followed by "Though if I had to guess, I would say something along the lines of just using the information to make their own project to counter and hopefully outdo the competition's. Or in a less 'friendly' scenario, just create and distribute what's on these plans first and claim it as their own." Rumoi sighs, "Honestly, these corporate types are no different than those high school girls you see in the vids, nice around most others while resorting to underhanded tactics in order to get what they want."

"Says the man who relies on robbery for a living," I dryly reply.

"But on the contrary, I make more than enough with my day job, the heist thing is more of a… hobby. I've become rather fond of the thrill of the hunt, getting something in return for acquiring these things is simply an added consolation." Oh, good to know there, I now feel so much better now that I know I was shoehorned into someone's _hobby. _I could probably just get up and waltz right out of this place and away from Smiling Bastard and the stupid crap he will most likely put me through in the future.

However, given what has happened in the past two days or so I've been here, as much as I would dislike admitting it, the bastard has been overall helpful. It would be improper to not return the favor and play along for a while, just at least until I know what I'm getting into.

Well, that, and figuring that by myself, I'd probably get myself beaten to death and/or mugged by a batarian within the first ten minutes or something stupid like that. I suppose I should be somewhat fortunate I ended up here instead of somewhere like the Citadel or hell, Omega.

So, as I've decided, I'm going to play along with the bastard, regar—

"There's the file. Make a copy and transfer it over to my OSD. I'll take care of the rest from here." Rumoi stops me at a certain file. The contents itself was something of little interest to me, something about weapons technology. Something that didn't seem all too useful to me, but I realize that I'm in a research lab whose main projects consist mostly of weaponry.

Maybe there would be something useful in these projects. After uploading the data Rumoi needed, I stay in my seat and skim through the files again, not much useful or plausible at the moment but maybe there's something—Oh hello… what do we have here?

…

…

Ah, this definitely looks _interesting. _The big question is, however, do I take this and make use of it? Would this greatly affect how the story plays out? Granted, in most stories involving this sort of thing, changes to the original plot usually turn out either extremely well or end up horribly messing things up even more.

Then again, my presence as well as choices has most likely changed parts of the timeline already and since this isn't something pre-programmed, or so I would like to think, there are most likely many other factors I can't see that may be affect whenever I do anything here.

In that case, then what's one little… borrowing of data going to do then? Should be inconsequential at most, right? Right. Just have to transfer the data over to my omni-tool—

"Well aren't we up to something naughty." A voice chimes in my left ear, causing me to almost jump out of my seat. It was when I quickly noticed that it was that bastard leering over my shoulder like those creepy sort of people who you suddenly find standing there, that sort of thing can give me the shivers.

"When did you get here? Aren't you supposed to be keeping watch or something?"

Smiling Bastard shrugged, "Yeah, but that was getting so very dull, and you're _much_ more interesting to watch." He inches closer to me as he says this, I inch away, part of me is certain he may be doing this intentionally.

"I'm just taking a couple plans that I can probably make use of."

"And how can you use plans for prototype weapons and _explosives_ in a place like this?" Rumoi asks, eyes narrowed, to be honest, for a moment I forgot the man was there. Let's see, have to think of an excuse quick or something.

"It's a hobby." I quickly blurt out. Crap, was that really the best I could come up with? "I like to make things like this whenever I get bored," A total lie, but my mouth seems to be speeding way ahead of my brain here, "I don't get many chances to get my hands on plans like these, so I thought, why not?"

I glance over to my right for a moment before turning back, damn, I can't really tell what sort of expression he has now. Best to say something to reassure him noting bad would happen.

"Not to worry though, my hobby will not disrupt anything going on here. You'll barely a small explosion from my room." Also a lie, a very bad one at that.

"Uh-huh…" My head almost drops at the suspicious stare he's giving me, I kind of want to just go crawl under the desk for a little while. This has not been my day… days, whatever.

"Look, 'Rumoi'," I say his name as if there were something that was crawling out of my mouth, "I know this all seems rather suspicious, but I'm not going to do anything bad with this and what I am doing won't affect you or anyone else," at least here in the very least. "I have plans for the future," I start.

Though the full extent of the plan at the moment is 'Take Anoleis down, somehow join up with Shepard, exciting stuff happens, then profi—er I'm home free'. I really need to work on speaking after being caught in a lie, so to speak. My planned responses are going out the window!

"I just think that these blueprints will assist in… expediting those plans." Yeah, hiding under this desk is getting more appealing by the second. "They won't involve you in any way," at least I hope not, "Well, er, unless you _want _to get involved—that is, I mean, only if you're interested in what I'm planning on doing that involves these blueprints for…"

Stop! Stop right now before you dig yourself any deeper you idiot! I stop before I utter another word and just sigh, not even making eye contact at this point. "So, can I just take these or not?" I lamely ask after a moment of wallowing in embarrassment.

Rumoi only shrugs, "Sure, go ahead."

"Wait, just like that?"

"To be honest, I don't really care if you've wiped the whole system at this point. I already got what I needed. Would've said that earlier, but it was much more fun to see you stuttering like some blushing schoolboy." 'Rumoi' grins for a moment.

I would take the time to make some sort of angry response, but I'm far too ashamed of myself at the moment. So my best reaction was to just continue downloading those prints and disconnecting the omni-tool.

"Right, I got what I need. Now what?"

"Now, the two of you can leave. It should still be safe, I'll handle the rest of the dirty work." I raise an eyebrow at this, that's it, really? Smiling Bastard easily complies as he heads toward the door, looking back to see if I would follow.

"That's it? You're just going to finish up here and… leave?" Kind of feels like a cop-out to me for some reason. I learned only a minimal of knowledge on Tech stuff and we're ending like this? There weren't even any enemies around.

"Well, I was planning on leaving after this," 'Rumoi' looks up from the screen, "but I think I'll stick around, even teach you a few more advanced 'tricks' you can do with that omni-tool of yours." Please clarify, "Like Jack said, you're… interesting, for some reason, can't put my finger on why. I'm also quite curious as to what this plan of yours is, I want to see what happens." So I left a good impression on him then? I'm not quite sure how that is so, I mean, I was not exactly at my best during this mission, if you could even call it that. But, who am I to argue this?

"Very well then, I'm not going to stop you," I answer, "but I have to ask. What is your real name?"

'Rumoi' laughs at this, "That obvious?"

"Intuition really,"

"Heh, I didn't expect to be using that old name in a while, but our friend over there insisted," He said while glance over at the Smiling Bastard before turning to face me again, "Well, you can call me Keiji. Keiji Okuda, one of the best information thieves you can find." He reintroduces himself with a proud tone in his voice. Keiji Okuda huh…

Sounds like a nice name, why can't I have a cooler name like that?

"Hey Puppy! You coming or what?" Smiling Bastard's call snaps me out of that train of thought. Right, getting myself distracted, I should go and sleep and brace myself for the next day tomorrow. Today's assisted felony brought about something unexpected. Something I probably won't be able to use for a while.

Anyway, whatever deity is currently watching over me, please grant me the endurance to wait this out. As I feel I'm going to be doing for a while before anything happens.

* * *

I knew I shouldn't have jinxed myself back then.

It has been a couple weeks or so since then and I haven't heard from Keiji since that little 'heist'. Though Smiling Bastard says that he's still around, just not in the open. I will have to ask about further lessons in tech skills later then. Though I have to say, that name seems familiar for some reason. It doesn't help that it's been a while since I've played the games.

In regards to other matters, I've yet to meet up with Lorik Qui'in, mostly due to the fact that Anoleis has me working practically overtime. Then again, I should've expected this, this being a secretarial job after all. Have to worker harder and excel, I can't get fired now.

Then after work was a trip to the Corporate Lounge where I hit up the bar and find to my disappointment that I, once again, missed Lorik'Quinn, according to Sol.

Sol has been pretty cool, probably the coolest guy/turian in this place that I know. Or rather, he's the only one I know, since I usually go out of the way to chat with him during the emptier hours.

As for the Smiling Bastard, he has been quiet for a while aside from the occasion popping into my room at the ungodly hours of the morning.

This was my routine for quite a while, with no openings for me to exploit in sight. That is until one cold day…

"Ayatsuji, I see that your work the past few days has been improving,"

"Thank you Mr. Anoleis sir."

"Yes yes. Good to know you're becoming less of a hindrance, though I doubt you'll be improving any further. Now go take a quick break," Anoleis? Giving me a break? Did I die of tedium somehow? Did Noveria turn into a tropical paradise? "I've received control over the revenue from lab rentals a few days ago and the reports are due soon. I require to be alone to work on them." Ah, of course-wait.

Lab rentals? Wasn't that what… I smile and bow courteously, "Of course, my apologies Mr. Anoleis, sir."

Well, this was unexpected, but just what I was waiting for. I quickly go over to the computer at my desk and start typing away a message to be sent over a private line to Noveria's Admiralty Board. I look over the message quickly after I finish, before sending it towards the board.

[_Subject: _Request for Investigation of Administrator Anoleis Under Suspicion of Corruption _successfully sent_]

I smile as I read the little notification. Okay, step complete, just have to hope everything plays out at least close to what I'm expecting from the games. Or close enough, considering my current position. Though to continue that, I need to get to that freaking turian!

Not wasting any more time, I rush out of the office and to the elevators as quick as I can, or rather, as quick as running in a business suit can go without tripping me up.

For the moment, things are going on smoothly. I just need to set up the rest of the pieces just right and with the right amount of patience, everything will fall into place.

I can count on that.

* * *

**A/N: And I'm cutting off here. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I would appreciate it if you left a review. Constructive criticism is welcome as well. Or if you have any question, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. Still, I'm sorry if the chapter was particularly lacking. The next few will be much better next time.**

**Until then, may you all have a wonderful day and may the next be good as well.**


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